Incinerators or the like



Jan.'3, 1967 F. SCI- IOLER 9 lNClNERATORs 93 THE LIKE Filed July 51,1964 4 sheets sheet 1 Jan. 3, 1967 F. SCHOLER 3,295,479

INCINERATORS OR THE LIKE Filed Jul 51, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 3,1967 Y F. SCHOLER 3,295,479

INCINERATORS OR THE LIKE Filed July 31, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet s Jan. 3,1967 F. SCHOLER 3,295,479

INCINERATORS OR THE LIKE I Filed July 51, 1964 Q 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 UnitedStates Patent 3,295,479 INCINERATGRS OR THE LIKE Felix Scholar, CastleCove, New South Wales, Australia,

assignor to Goodrid Incinerator (Io. Pty. Limited, Sydney, New SouthWales, Australia, a corporation of Australia Filed July 31, 1964, Ser.No. 386,541

12 Claims. (Cl. 116-18) The present invention relates generally toimprovements in furnaces such as incinerators or the like, for exampleof the type used by municipal councils and other bodies for the largescale disposal of refuse, and in particular relates to the provision ofnew and improved means for the loading and firing of such incinerators.

Incinerators as presently used are manually or mechanically loaded andalso require stoking during the firing of the load in order to exposefresh material to be burnt. Furthermore, because these incineratorsemploy a forced up-draught, there is a limit to the amount of materialwhich can be loaded into the burning cells, this being normally limitedto a depth of two feet.

An object of the present invention is to overcome these defects inincinerators as currently used and to thereby provide an incineratorwhich can be directly loaded from a vehicle or from a conveyor, whichcan be fully loaded to the limit of its capacity, and which during thefiring thereof is self-stoking.

In accordance with the present invention there is, provided anincinerator having one or more firing cells, a loading chute adapted toreceive material directly from a vehicle or conveyor and feed it intothe firing cell or cells, said loading chute having an openin oropenings therein communicating with the firing cell or cells, saidopenings being closabie by a counterweighted door having one or moredamper-controlled tapered air inlets extending into the firing cell orcells.

It is preferred to have two of the tapered air inlets for each firingcell door since this number provides an adequate flow and distributionof the air across the width of the firing cell. However, one, or threeor more, of these air inlets could be used in the front and/or sidewalls of the cell or cells of the incinerator if so desired, the size ofthe inlets being proportioned in relation to the number thereof so as toprovide adequate air flow. The tapered air inlets provided in theincinerators of this invention are designed to be used all around thefurnace in any number proportional to the size of the unit, includingthe use of same underneath the grates.

In a preferred embodiment the tapered air inlets provided in theincinerators of this invention are such as are capable of universalmovement, either intermittent or continuous, so as to direct theincoming high velocity streams of air to all parts of the charge to beburned.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention the airinlets are frusto-conical and are mounted with the largest diametervertically disposed with the axis of the air inlet angularly disposedwith respect to the horizontal axis of said largest diameter, saidinlets being rotatable about such axis. The angle of inclination of suchrotatable air inlets may conveniently be 25 with the inlets beingcapable of rotation through 360 by either manual, mechanical orelectrical means, for example, by means of a pinion driving a ring gearmounted externally of the inlets about their largest diameter. In thisembodiment the incinerator may additionally be provided with a spraynozzle, adapted to spray water in an atomized condition into the firingcell, mounted above the or each air inlet.

It is also preferred to have a number of counterbalanced hinged doors,corresponding in number to, and

aligned with, the counter-weighted firing cell doors, provided in thesloping front wall of the loading chute so that after the load has beenfed into the incinerator the operator can open these doors and trim theload in the firing cell or cells prior to firing same.

Where the incinerator has two firing cells it is preferred that theloading chute has a divider in the center thereof to ensure evendistribution of the load between the two cells. A suitable form of suchdivider being one wherein the two side walls thereof, which respectivelydefine one side of the openings into the firing cells, are vertical andare surmounted by sloping walls which converge to form a central ridgeso that material which during discharge into the chute falls onto suchridge will be divided between each of the two cells.

A preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an incinerator in section through an airinlet cone and the loading chute;

FIG. 2 is a plan view in'section on a plane passing through the loadingchute just above the level of the air inlet cones;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of one of the loading doors showing two airinlet cones and their associated dampers;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation in section through one of the air inlet conesshown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 is a perspective elevation of the loadingchute assembly and ramp with the incinerator omitted for clarity.

As shown in the drawings the incinerator has a firing cell 7 and 8 oneach side of a central partition 9, with the products of combustionpassing by way of fire-brick arches to a single, centrally situatedsmoke-stack it at the rear thereof. At the front of the incineratorwhere the loading chute 11 is situated, there is provided in the casewhere the vehicles are to unload directly into the loading chute, a ramp12 of suitable size and shape to enable vehicles toclrive or back up theramp and discharge their loads directly into the chute. Alternatively, aconveyor of suitable form (not shown) could be provided in which casethe vehicles would discharge their loads onto the conveyor which wouldthen transport the material up into the loading chute. I

The loading chute 11 has a vertical rear wall 13, an inwardly slopingfront wall 14- and a central divider 15 having vertical side wallssurmounted by sloping walls 16 and 17 which converge to form a centralridge to apportion the load equally between the two firing cells. Therear wall of the chute has openings 18 and 19 therein communicating withthe firing cells 7 and 8, these openings being normally closed by meansof the vertically sliding counter-weighted doors 2t) and 21 which areopened when required to enable material to be fed into the firing cells.In the embodiment depicted each of the counter-weighted doors isprovided with two frustoconical air inlets 22 having sliding dampers 23for controlling the entry of the combustion air. Also in this embodimentthe front of the loading chute is provided with two downwardly openingcounterbalanced hinged doors 24, each of which is ali ned with thenormally closed openings 18 and 19 to the firing cells, and which hingeddoors are normally closed by sliding bolts.

The frusto-conical air inlets may be installed with their axes eitherhorizontal or with their axes inclined (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4).Where the air inlets are of the inclined type it is preferred that theybe provided with means to rotate them, such as ring gear 25 and pinion26. Such rotatable air inlets are adapted to be rotated eithercontinuously or intermittently during the firing of the load and may bedriven by manual, mechanical or electrical means.

With the inclined air inlets, the axis of which may be inclined at anangle of about 25, the orifice will describe a circle upon rotation thusproviding a much larger zone of combustion than is provided bystationary inlets. Where two rotatable air inlets are provided in eachsliding door these may be rotated in identical or different manner inorder to vary the combustion zone, for example, the speed of rotation ofone inlet could be varied in relation to that of the other or the twoinlets could be rotated in opposite directions.

In addition to the damper controlled frusto-conical air inlets thevertical sliding doors would normally be provided with vent holes 27 atthe top and bottom thereof.

The incinerator may also be provided with spray nozzles 28 as shown inFIG. 4, which are situated above the rotary air inlets and which aredesigned to spray water in an atomized condition into the firing cells.These water sprays would be used where carbonaceous materials such asplastics, rubber, carbon paper, bituminous impregnated papers or wasteand the like are being burned, the steam formed from the water reactingwith any incompletely burned carbonaceous matter (by the Water gasreaction) to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen thus allowing such matterto be completely destroyed before passing to atmosphere.

In the operation of the incinerator embodying the improved loading andfiring means of this invention the material to be burnt is discharged,either directly from a vehicle or from a conveyor, into the loadingchute while all the doors of the chute are closed. The material is fedinto the firing cells by raising the counter-weighted doors thusallowing the material to slide down the sloping front wall of the chuteinto the cells. When the firing cells have been filled to capacity thehinged front doors on the loading chute can be opened to allow theoperator to inspect and trim the load if necessary. The operator canthen light the load, close the counter-weighted doors and adjust thedampers on the frusto-conical air inlets to provide sufiicient draughtthrough the firing cells.

By using the tapered air inlets, and particularly the inclined rotaryair inlets, there is set up within the incinerator a strong, swirling,cross-current of air which, by burning a channel through the load andthereby allowing the upper material to fall down into the burning zone,enables the incinerator to become self-stoking. onsequently, once theincinerator has been fired it be- 'comes automatic in its operation andthus there is no need for the operator to stoke the furnace during theburning period. Also because of this self-stoking action there is nolimit, except that imposed by the dimensions of the firing cells, to theamount of material which can be loaded into the cells prior to firingsame.

What I claim is:

1. An incinerator having two firing cells; a loading chute for receivingmaterial and feeding it into the firing cells; said loading chute havingan inwardly sloping front wall, a vertical rear wall with two openingstherein each communicating with one of said firing cells, a centraldivider having side walls each defining one side of the openings intosaid firing cells and surmounted by sloping walls converging to form acentral ridge; a vertically sliding counterweighted door for closingeach of said firing cell openings; and two tapered air inlet members oneach sliding door extending into the firing cells for directing highspeed streams of air into the charge to be burned; each said air inletmember being frusto-conical with the largest end thereof lying in avertically disposed plane with the fiow axis of the air inlet membersbeing :angularly disposed with respect to the horizontal axis 7 'of saidlargest end and being rotatable about said horizontal axis.

2. An incinerator as claimed in claim 2 comprising a spray nozzleadapted to spray water in an atomized condition into the firing cellsmounted .above each air inlet member.

3. An incinerator as claimed in claim 2, comprising at least oneadditional tapered air inlet member in each of the firing cells in aWall thereof.

4. An incinerator as claimed in claim 3, comprising at least oneadditional tapered air inlet member underneath the gates of each of thefiring cells.

5. An incinerator having two firing cells; a loading chute for receivingmaterial and feeding it into the firing cells; said loading chute havingan inwardly sloping front wall, a vertical rear wall with two openingstherein each communicating with one of said firing cells, a centraldivider having side walls each defining one side of the openings intosaid firing cells and surmounted by sloping Walls converging to form acentral ridge; a vertically sliding counterweighted door for closingeach of said firing cell doors; a counter-balanced downwardly openinghinged door aligned with each of the firing cell doors in the inwardlysloping front wall of said loading chute; two tapered air inlet membersextending into the firing cells from each sliding door for directinghigh speed streams of air into the charge to be burned; each said airinlet member being frusto-conical with the largest end thereof lying ina vertically disposed plane with the flow axis of the air inlet memberbeing angularly disposed.

with respect to the horizontal axis of said largest end and beingrotatable about said axis; and a spray nozzle adapted to spray Water inan atomized condition into the firing cells mounted above each airinlet.

6. An incinerator having at least one firing cell, a loading chuteadapted to receive material and feed it into the t firing cell, saidloading chute having an opening therein communicating with the firingcell, a door operatively associated with said cell for closing saidopening, a damper-controlled tapered air inlet member supported from thedoor and extending into the firing cell for directing high speed streamsof air into the charge to be burned in said cell, and means supportingthe air inlet member from the door for angular rotation with respect tothe door to vary the position at which the inlet air is directed againstthe charge and enable the inlet air to contact substantially allportions of the charge.

7. An incinerator having at least one firing cell, a

loading chute for receiving material and, feeding it into each of thefiring cells, said loading chute having an inwardly sloping front walland a vertical rear wall having an opening therein communicating with arespective firing Q cell, a vertically sliding counterweighted dooroperatively associated with each cell for closing the opening therein,at least one tapered air inlet member supported from each door andextending into the associated firing cellfor directing high speedstreams of air into the charge to be burned, each said air inlet memberbeing angularlyf.

and rotatably disposed with respect to the associated vertically slidingdoor and a ring gear mounted on each door and engaging each air inletmember thereof for rotating the same about their largest diameter, and aspray nozzle an opening therein communicating with a respective firingcell, a door operatively associated with each cell for closing theopening therein, at least one damper-controlled air inlet membersupported from each door and extending at an angle into the associatedfiring cell for directing;

high speed streams of air into the charge to be burned, means forrotating each air inlet member with respect to the door to vary theangle at which the inlet air is directed against the charge so that allportions of the charge are; contacted and a counter-balanced downwardlyopening hinged door aligned with each firing cell door in the inwardlysloping front wall of said loading chute.

9. An incinerator having at least one firing cell, a loading chuteadapted to receive material and feed it into each of the firing cells,said loading chute having an opening therein communicating with arespective firing cell, a door operatively associated with each cell forclosing the opening therein, at least one damper-controlled tapered airinlet member rotatably supported from each door and extending into theassociated firing cell to direct a high speed stream of air to thecharge to be burned, and means coupled to each air inlet member forrotating the same with respect to the associated door and vary thedirection of the air stream to enable contact with substantially theentire charge.

10. An incinerator as claimed in claim 9 comprising a spray nozzleadapted to spray Water in an atomized condition into each firing cellmounted above the respective air inlet member.

11. An incinerator as claimed in claim 10 comprising at least oneadditional tapered air inlet member in each firing cell in a Wallthereof.

12. An incinerator as claimed in claim 11 comprising at least oneadditional tapered air inlet member in each of the firing cellsunderneath the grates thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 141,359 7/1873Kellogg et a1. 1105 219,232 9/ l 879 Dres'goultes.

446,274 2/ 1891 Ward 1l0-l 16 720,626 2/ 1903 Schulte 12677 814,5503/1906 Lewis 110--81 X 2,524,864 10/ 1950 Worsham 110108 X FOREIGNPATENTS 885,690 6/1943 France.

4,088 1883 Great Britain.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

20 H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner.

6. AN INCINERATOR HAVING AT LEAST ONE FIRING CELL, A LOADING CHUTEADAPTED TO RECEIVE MATERIAL AND FEED IT INTO THE FIRING CELL, SAIDLOADING CHUTE HAVING AN OPENING THEREIN COMMUNICATING WITH THE FIRINGCELL, A DOOR OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID CELL FOR CLOSING SAIDOPENING, A DAMPER-CONTROLLED TAPERED AIR INLET MEMBER SUPPORTED FROM THEDOOR AND EXTENDING INTO THE FIRING CELL FOR DIRECTING HIGH SPEED STREAMSOF AIR INTO THE CHARGE TO BE BURNED IN SAID CELL, AND MEANS SUPPORTINGTHE AIR INLET MEMBER FROM THE DOOR FOR ANGULAR ROTATION WITH RESPECT TOTHE DOOR TO VARY THE POSITION AT WHICH THE INLET AIR IS DIRECTED AGAINSTTHE CHARGE AND ENABLE THE INLET AIR TO CONTACT SUBSTANTIALLY ALLPORTIONS OF THE CHARGE.